Card-index system.



J. S. DUNCAN.

CARD INDEX SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED 11:13.11, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Patented Feb. 18, 1913.

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GARD INDEX SYSTEM.

AP1 L1011T10N HLED H1B. 11, 1905.

r1,O5."',283. l Patented Feb.18,1913.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 2.

221991922 uncan/ of the subscriptions in any expiration series.

and still maintain the alphabetical or other .Inovingthe cards of expiring subscriptions,

ing to their expirations and providing means UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIcE.

JOSEPH s. DUNCAN', or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIeNoR-'ro annnnssoemn COMPANY,

' or cIIIcAeo, ILLINoIs, a conroaArIoN or ILLINoIs.

` CARD-INDEX SYSTEM.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that'I', JOSEPH S. DUNCAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the countyA of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Card- Index Systems, of whichv the following is a specification.

This invention relates to card index systems and its object is to provide for the removal of cards in series from a' tray.

d In order that m invention may be clearly understood I wil describe it as embodied in a system adaptedI especially for publishers subscriptions lists. The addresses of the subscribers, with or without other information, have been recorded on cards which are arranged in trays alphabetically, or by cities, counties, or States, and in other ways. The subscriptions expire at different times'and there is no way of'arranging the subscriptions according to their expirations arrangement above mentioned. Heretofore it has been necessary to run through the subscriptions at intervals for the purpose of reand it 1s my object to avoid this work by designating the subscriptions in series accordfor simultaneously removing from a tray all Thus far I have referred to'the ordinary record cards of the well-known card index system but my invention is not alone useful in connection with'mere recordcards but it can be used in connection with such cards using the term in its broad generic sense, which comprise in whole or in part a printing device 'from which an impression is taken' directly. Such printing device, whether in the form of printing plates or stencils, or any other form, and whether or not they are used alone or together with record strips, lmay be arranged in a tray and used in precisely the same manner as the commonly known card index card,"but they are capable of being further used, as abovementioned, to print the addresses.

My invention contemplates the use of such printing devices in series and the removal of all devices in any one series for the purpose above described and for the further purpose of preventing absolutely the sending of the periodical, whatever. it may be, to an expired subscription address. I would have it understood,therefore, that I use the word card herein in lits broad generic sense as comprising a common card, a printing device, or an other device, embodying the invention, w ich is capable of use in accordance with` the ordinary card index system.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tray hlled with ,cards comprising printing devlces and embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a front Patented Feb. 151,191.6..

view of the card. Fig. 3 is a back view of the card. Fig. 4 isa detail enlarged front view of an index tab. Fig. 5 is an e'nd view 'of the index tab. Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

I may'employ a tray 10 of any suitable -character and arrange the cards therein in any desired order, but for convenience I will describe the inventioniwith the cards ar` ranged alphabetically. For the purposes of this description I 'have selected a card comprising a printing plate anda record strip as exhibiting an extended application of the invention and referring particularly to Figs. 2 and 3, this card comprises a holder 11 carrying a printing plate 12 and a paper or .card board strip 13 which I prefer should bear an impression offthe address on the printin plate and any other information desire relating to the subscription or associated -with that particular address. This plate vand strip can be fastened to the card in any suitable manner and the strip is preferably located above the plate as shown 1n Fig. 2.

I desire to have it understood that I do not restrict the invention to embodiment with a card of the particular character herein described and shown in Figs. 2 and 3, for I may em loy cards comprising stencils for printing t e address, or ordinary index cards which are not usable as printing devices, or

any other form of cards which can be adapted for use as hereinv set forth. In this embodiment of the invention thev cards are made in twelve `series .according to the calendar months, and the subscriptions are recorded on cards corresponding to the months in which the subscript-ionsy expire. Thus all subscriptions which expire in January will be recorded on the cards which are vin the January series, and so on, andthe cards of the several series will be located indiscriminately in the tray because of the alphabetical classification. `Diierent series are distinguished from each other by projections" be stamped up from the holder 11 and it is provided with an opening 15 to receive the rod 16. These projections are located at different. points' on the upper'edge of the cards between the ends thereof, that is to say one series of cards to record thesubscriptionsl expiring in January have tlm projections located at one point; those cards recordin subscriptions expiring in February have t e projections located at a point-so far out of alinement with the projections on the January series that the'openings lat the top of the projections will be unobstructed;

and so on, the twelve series ofcards corre-l sponding to the twelve calendar months have their projections located so they will not aline with each other and so that the rod 16 can be passed through the openings in all of the projections of any one series without interfering or being interfered with by the projections on any of the other series of cards.

In Fig. 1 I have shown the projections on the January series at the right of the card and the rod 16 in engagementlwith all of the cards in the January series in position to be lifted up to remove this series from the tray. The insertion of the rod is facilitated by the use of a guide 17 in theform of a plate adapted to be inserted in one end of the tray, preferably the back as shown, this plate being rovided with a socket 18 for each series o 'cards and located opposite the projections on the respective series of cards. With this guide it is only necessary toslide the rod through the proper socket and on through the openings alining with the socket, to engage the rod with all of the i 'cards in the series'v indicated by said socket to remove them from the tray.

The tray 10 shown upon the drawings is of the ordinary commercial form of card index holder, and is adapted to be placed in a 'case also of ordinary well-known commercial'structure. The cards and the projections already described are adapted to be employed with trays and cases of this form without any particular adaptation of the tray or case for their reception. As is usual in trays of this character, the front wall 20 of the tray extends upwardly a substantial distance above the top of the cards, and the tray, when placed in the cabinet or case, disposes the tops of the cards a substantial distance beneath the top or covering Wall above the tray. In this manner the projections 14 are effectively protected from damage while and vthe tray is inthe case and in moving it in and out thereof. The rear walls 21 of such traysare usually cut away to permit the easy operation of the follower 22, with which such trays are provided, and this follower usually extends to or beneath the top edges of the cards. When my improved system is employed lwith trays of this character it' is apparent that a desired series of cards may be withdrawn by merely removing-the tray from the cabinet and inserting the movable guide 17 between the follower and the last card within the tray, when'the rod 16 will be eciently guided throu h the apertures in the projections of the esired series.

To facilitate the alphabetical classification ofthe cards I prefer to employ a de-v tachable index tab but I do not restrict myself to the use of any particular kind of index tab in the practice of this invention. On sheet 2 of the drawings I. have shown an i dex tab which has been found very satis actory and which forms the subject matter of Patent No. 808,909, granted on Jan.n

2, 1906 to myself and Olof N. Tevander. This tab 19 (Figs. 4-5) is out out at 20 rovided with a top plate 21 having side anges 22 and end flanges 23 and forms -a support for the index card 24. The tab also has a foot 25 and this foot is offset at 26 and the support 21 is offset at-27 so that the foot may enter the opening 28 in the' holder 11 and the support 21 may slip down in front of the projection 14. The lower edge of the support 21 ofthe tab is adapted to rest on the upper edge of the holder, the offset 27 in the tab bringing the sup ort forward suiicientl to rmlt it to s ide down in front of t e projection 14 and to a point below the openlng 15 therein at the.

same time that the foot is entering the o ning 28. The tab will ordinarily be hel securely in place by reason of the engagement of the support with the projection and of the 'foot with the holder but as a further .precaution against accidental displacement may also provide a spring lip 29 which is arranged to engage-the top wall 30 of the opening 28 in the holder. These tabs'aremade detachable so that they can be changed from one card to another as occasion may require. For example, if the first card in the A section recorded the subscription of John W. Adams and subsequently a subscri tion for Henry A. Abbott was received, the A bott card to preserve the alphabetical classification would be inserted in front of the Adams card and the tab would be changed from .the Adams card to the Abbott card. This detachable tab also permits of changes when cards carrying the tabs happen to be removed on account of expirations.

My invention. will greatly facilitate the use of a card index system by publishers and others who have a long list of names recorded on cards and who require the r'emoval of cards in series at `stated intervals.

While I have shown and described the invention as embodied in a system designed for monthly series it. lwill be understood that the series may be increased or diminished as desired by adding additional series or dispensing with some.

The invention avoids the necessity for inspecting all of the cards in the tray to remove a series and enables this work to be done very quickly and requires no particular skill. Furthermore, -the projectlons indicate at a glance the number of cards in each series and they can readily be counted without handling the cards in any' way.

Additional cards may be inserted in -the tray at any time land in any place for it is wholly immaterial at what position between the front and back ends of the tray the cards in any one series may be. located.

Without limiting myself to the exact construction and arrangement of. parts herein .shown and described, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is A card index system comprising a rectangular tray adapted to contain a number of.l cards of di'erent series, each of said cards being provided with a projectionhaving an opemng therein the projections of all the cards being adapted to have the openings therein disposed in alinement longitudinally of the tray, each of said cards being also provided with indexing means to permit the arrangement of the cards in the tray according to a desired classcation independent of the series to which the cards belong, a follower, a rodadapted to engage the alined openings of a series of projections, and guiding means removably positioned between .the follower and 'the vrearmost card for guiding the rod through the desired set of alined a ertures.

JOSE H S; DUNCAN.

Witnesses:

WM. O. BEI/r, vM. A. KmDIE. 

